Japan shares rise on Wall Street Lead, Fiscal Draft in Focus

2025-12-24 01:31 By Farida Husna 1 min. read

The Nikkei 225 rose 222 points, or 0.4%, to 50,630 in Wednesday morning trade, rebounding from a subdued close in the prior session.

Sentiment improved after the S&P 500 hit a fresh record high overnight, due to easing fears of an AI bubble and stronger-than-expected U.S.

Q3 GDP data.

Locally, focus shifted to fiscal policy as Tokyo finalized plans for a FY2026 budget of about JPY 122 trillion, with cabinet approval expected as early as Friday.

The draft exceeds the roughly JPY 115.2 trillion initial plan for FY2025 and would mark a record high for the second straight year.

However, gains were capped by signs that the Bank of Japan will continue to raise interest rates, with policymakers viewing real rates as remaining “significantly negative” and financial conditions as broadly accommodative.

Most sectors were higher, led by industrial services and producer manufacturing.

Early gainers included Tokyo Electron (2.0%), Japan Post Bank (1.9%), Daiichi Sankyo (1.5%), and Advantest (1.4%).



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